I'm Sorry
by Arrant Schemata
Summary: Sam apologises to Jack for her behaviour


_Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even the clothes on my back ;-p_

_Season: Post Eight, Pre-Nine_

_Category: Romance_

_Spoilers: Window of Opportunity, Threads and Avalon_

_Characters: Sam Carter and Jack O'Neill_

_Pairing: Sam/Jack_

_Authors' Note: The first three lines of conversation just popped into my head as I was walking back to my bedroom and I had to just sit down and write it there and then before I forgot! Thank you to supershipper-JA2-JC-WJ for Beta-ing it for me, Alyssa you're the best._

I'm Sorry 

Jack looked up from his desk to see Carter walking into his office. She shut the door to the briefing room behind her and checked to see if the other door was closed. Curious, he just looked at her. She stood in front of his desk and opened her mouth to speak,

"I'm sorry"

"For what?" Jack asked, thoroughly confused.

"For Pete, everything"

"You have nothing to be sorry for Sam"

"Yes I do. If I hadn't agreed to marry Pete I wouldn't have hurt you, him and myself. I should have trusted in what we had and waited for you."

Jack sighed, he had been waiting for this conversation since he had found out Sam had broken up with Pete, "No you shouldn't. If you had never met Pete then you would never have known what it felt like to have that life I kept telling you to get. If you had never met Pete then you would have missed out on that chance. Because you had that time and that chance you came to realise that it wasn't everything you wanted. If you had never met Pete I would always have felt that I was holding you back from going out there and finding someone to love and who loves you in return that can show that love everyday. I'm not going to pretend that seeing you with him didn't hurt because it did - but I knew you were happy and that's all I wanted. Because of Pete we both know that what we want is right here, and nothing is going to change that. Not the Goa'uld, not our jobs and not someone else. All we have to do is wait for our time."

"Sir…I don't think anyone has ever cared for me enough to let me go and make my own mistakes. Thank you. I understand now, why you didn't interfere when I asked you about Pete's proposal. You wanted me to find out for myself if that was what I wanted. I know now that it isn't, but I'm glad I had that opportunity, I guess I would always have felt a little cheated if I'd continually put my life on hold for something that I wasn't sure was going to happen. I'm willing to wait for as long as it takes."

"Good, 'cos I'm going be here waiting for that time as well. But it might not be as far into the future as you might think." He hinted, a mischievous smile forming on his face

"Really…?"

"Yeah. I'm being promoted again – Head of Homeworld Security."

"What's General Hammond going to do?" she asked, slightly intrigued.

"He's going with the Dedalus expedition to the Pegasus Galaxy and the President wants me to take his place."

"So, you're going to Washington?" she asked with a hint of disappointment

"Yeah. I know it's not ideal but…"

Sam finished his sentence "You have to go where you're needed."

"Yeah, the curse of the military."

"Well I'm not staying at the SGC either."

"You're not!" he exclaimed, shocked.

"No. After Dad died I had a lot of time on my hands to think about what I wanted out of my life. I realised that I didn't want Pete but that I also didn't want things to go back to the way they were between you and me. That's why I decided to take my life into my own hands for once and request reassignment to Area 51. I wanted to get out of the chain of command so that we could find out if these feelings that have been brewing for the last 8 years between us would go somewhere."

"So you're going to Nevada and I'm going to Washington? Huh. I never thought I'd see the day that Sam Carter would leave the SGC voluntarily. Normally I have to order you to go home."

"Well for once Sir, I decided to put my life before my work." She told him somewhat proudly

"When does your transfer go through?"

"I guess you didn't get the memo?" she said with a playful hint in her voice, he never did get his memos.

"What memo?" he asked, looking confused.

"The one telling you that as of 0900 this morning Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter was not longer assigned to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex."

"0900 this morning?"

"Yup. I'm no longer officially under your command. Technically I shouldn't even be here but it appears that the SGC grapevine has broken down because I had no trouble getting on base."

"If you're not assigned here anymore shouldn't you be in Nevada?"

"Nope, I've got three weeks downtime before I have to report to Area 51. They decided that this time would allow me to sort out accommodation in Nevada and say goodbye to my life here."

"So you're free for the next few weeks?" asked Jack as a plan began to form in his mind.

"Yes. I'm relatively young, free, single and have nothing important to do. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself."

"Come fishing." He said instantly

"What?"

"Come fishing with me. I know we only got back from the cabin a few weeks ago but I want to take you up there again, just you and me."

"That sounds great. I'd love to Jack." She said as a big spilt across her face.

"It doesn't sound as great as finally hearing my name come from your lips Sam."

"I know what you mean."

They both looked at one another with big grins on their faces. Sam was still standing in front of his desk and Jack was sitting in his chair looking up at the woman who meant so much to him. As he looked at her he realised that he no longer had to hide his emotions, he could show her exactly what she meant to him without having to fear repercussions. As this thought took root in his mind he stood up and walked resolutely towards her.

"Well, seeing as you are no longer under my command I guess it's ok to do this" he said as he gently pulled her face towards him and kissed her soundly on the lips. He slipped one arm around her waist and the other up her neck and into her hair, as she began to respond to his kiss he dipped her, just like he had done in the time loop, and just as she had done then, she wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to allow him entrance. Only this time there was no white flash to signal the end of the loop, this time he was free to take as long as he wanted.

Only when air was beginning to be a problem for the both of them did he pull her back up and move his lips away from her amazing kisses.

"Well, since you are no longer assigned to this facility I suppose I should make sure that you are escorted off base and taken home."

"Is that a promise Jack?"

"Yeah, sure, you betcha" he said with a smug, shit-eating grin on his face.

He took hold of her hand and walked out of his office and down into the control room, calling to Walter as he did so,

"Walter, cancel all of my appointments for today. I have to escort Colonel Carter home."

With that he walked out of the control room, Sam's hand still firmly encased in his. They walked out of the SGC, consciously ignoring all the questioning looks that their colleagues were passing their way, pretending that it was completely natural for them to be holding hands, because now it was. There were no longer rules and regulations saying that they couldn't act like this with one another and both of them knew that they were going to make sure that nothing would ever come between them again. They were going to be together, always.

_Hope you enjoyed it, if you did, or even if you didn't please review as they make one unemployed teacher very happy! _


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